Quake Dogs

“[Quake Dogs] wears its heart on its sleeve – or collar – with page after poignant page of stories from the Christchurch earthquakes accompanied by the appealing canines themselves photographed by Craig Bullock. An unabashed tear-jerker as man’s best friends overcome disaster, loss and stress to bark again.”

– Christopher Moore, New Zealand Listener

Quake Dogs is filled with strange but true stories that are perfect for all dog lovers. There are true tales of heroism, odd and quirky stories, funny stories, sad stories — stories that will surprise you and make you chuckle. With photography by FURtography’s Craig Bullock and words by Laura Sessions.

For those lying injured under the quake rubble, the sound of a USAR dog bark was the sound of hope; for the elderly living alone during the quakes, huddling together with their canine companion brought mutual comfort in the lonely and frightening dark.

There were the dogs who fled their family homes in terror never to be found again; there were the abandoned dogs, taken in by complete strangers who also took care of their vet bills; there were those who ran miles to find their families; and there were those who were so traumatised that they had to be re-homed with families in other cities.

Some were trapped in liquefaction being sucked at like quick sand; there’s a dog who still today warns her family that another after shock is on its way by rushing out into the garden; others have continued to suffer from sustained post-quake trauma and sadly, two dogs included in the book have recently passed losing their two year battles.

Part of the proceeds from the book go to support HUHA, a national organisation that works to rescue and re-home animals around the country. They went to Christchurch three times to take more than 70 dogs, plus numerous other animals, to safe and loving homes elsewhere in the country.

Boss, Bruce, Angel, Nemo, Easy, Stig, Blu, Buster, Molly, Poppy, Boo, Stanley and Jack to name just a few. These are our Quake Dogs and these are their stories. Gracing the book’s cover is Guinness, a very familiar scruffy face who appeared regularly in the TV news updates. The enormous, shaggy Irish Wolfhound became the pin-up boy for the Student Volunteer Army and was awarded a medal for his work with their rescue effort. It’s a book with a very big heart at its centre. It ultimately celebrates the very special, wordless bond between people and their pets which is one founded on love, trust, loyalty and companionship.